


Nerves of Steel

by harmony88



Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [24]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode AU: s02e01 New Earth, F/M, Fluff, Mystery, Post-Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday, Romance, Ten/Rose Feels, Tender Sex, problem solving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-25 23:28:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30096801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmony88/pseuds/harmony88
Summary: COMPLETEThe Doctor and Rose take a trip back to New Earth, but they meet an old acquaintance and have a mystery to solve, and find themselves dealing with a shock they weren't prepared for at all.Lots of Ten/Rose feels & some action :)The Face of Boe sat in the middle, hooked up to many wires, and the Doctor looked at Sister Hart. Rose stared at him, remembering him from the day she watched the Earth burn.That was their first date.They had chips.“This is who wanted to see us?” the Doctor asked softly. Sister Hart smiled.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111892
Comments: 26
Kudos: 26





	1. Banter, Bets, and Braxton Hicks

**Author's Note:**

> New Earth still happened as it did in canon, this is a follow up. :) Also, they visited New Earth already in this series in "A Princess and a Traveler", there are a couple small callbacks to that story.

_“Fixed points will make all the difference. Remember them,”_ his father had said. 

That’s what he was thinking about as he sat on his knees in the galley, using his sonic screwdriver to lock each cabinet and drawer within a child’s reach, making it so the only two people who could open them were him and Rose. 

Their companions might complain when they’re on the ship again, but he figured they could deal with it. And if he was being honest, the idea of listening to Donna’s rant about not being able to use a spoon was already delighting him. 

_”Well, isn’t that wizard?”_ she will probably mutter sarcastically. 

He moved from the galley to the media room, repeating the same action, locking everything, his mind still swimming in thoughts of time, and just how wibby and wobbly he knew it to be. 

Fixed points were the exception. 

Each one was a moment so monumental it cements a timeline. It calms the ripples, closing off all possible paths except the one you are on until you reach the next fixed point, where another moment, another decision, another action decides whether you stay on the timeline you have been on, or venture off in another direction. 

It’s like playing ‘connect the dots’ he had once explained to Susan. 

They were dangerous and tricky but so bloody important, and while it's occasionally possible to recognize you are about to create a fixed point, more often than not they are unexpected. Not until the moment has passed can one look back and appreciate the fixed point for what it was, and even then only a Time Lord or Lady could truly see it. 

The last thing he ever expected was Tony helping them stay on track. 

He found himself counting all the fixed points he knew had given him this insane, wonderful, strange adventure he thought he could never have. When he closed his eyes, he could see it; the spot in the universe that led him back to her. He could hear the waves crash on the beach. He could taste her kiss from that night in 2056. He heard Aphrodite’s voice telling him it’s what he did with the time he had that mattered. 

Their wedding came flooding to him in a flash of joy. 

He made the proper choice. Over and over again. They defeated Rassilon. They found forever. 

Their daughter...

He stopped scanning and sat down on the couch in the media room, reflecting.

He knew now that the first trip to the Torchwood Estate was a fixed point. One that was years in the making, and now the universe was testing them. For what reason, exactly, he still had no idea, but between the Weeping Angels and the Syn and what happened with Mr. Townes a few days ago, he was very aware they were in the middle of another mad game of chess with destiny, trying to make sure they didn’t undo all of those brilliant moments; those shining dots; those pebbles that they threw into the water. 

They were finishing what they started. 

He moved out of the media room into each ensuite, locking the cabinets. He thought about securing the toilet lids, but he had a feeling Rose might lose her patience rather quickly if he did that, so he settled on leaving those alone for now, and he would revisit that idea when he saw just how curious Alice was. 

She was his daughter though, so he had a feeling her curiosity might just be a little...well...

“What are you doing?” Rose asked, a smoothie in her hand, and he turned to her with a neutral expression. 

“Baby-proofing,” he said, and she smiled at him. 

“Now?” she asked. He just looked at her, smiling when he saw just how green her drink was. 

“What's all in that?” he asked, and she just took a sip. 

“Cucumber, celery, apple, some ginger, a little bit of that root that helps with cramps? From the planet with the red waterfall?” she said, and he frowned. 

“Do you have cramps?” he asked, and she nodded, sipping more. “You’re only 27 weeks, you shouldn’t.” 

He pointed his sonic screwdriver at her, and she sighed. It had just been a twinge when she woke up that morning, but the moment he began his scan she felt another cramp come on, and this time it gripped her completely. She dropped the smoothie on the floor, spilling it everywhere. 

“Ah, shit, shit, shit,” she said, pressing her hand against the wall as she tried to wait for the pain to pass, but he was already scooping her up into his arms and running to the medbay, the mess on the floor forgotten about. 

He wasn’t panicking, not yet, he suspected he knew what this was, and he just really, really hoped he was right. 

“Lay down for me, okay?” he asked softly, kissing her head, and she did as he said, the pain in her belly tight and burning a little, and he clenched his jaw as he hooked the scanner up to the monitor. “It’s okay. Not on your back, love. Turn this way.” 

He helped her, and her face was tight and rigid, trying not to alarm him with a scream. It had only been about thirty seconds, but it felt much longer to her, and she let out a sigh of relief when the sensation ended. 

“Better?” he asked carefully, able to feel a small amount of the pain in his mind, and she nodded. “When did it start?” 

“It didn’t feel like that earlier,” she said. “I would have told you.” 

“Don’t worry about that. How many have you had?” he asked, brushing her hair off of her cheek. She just held up the number two with her fingers, her heart racing, and he nodded, kissing those same fingers softly. He ran a test, never letting go of her hand, and he smiled at her, trying to ease the worry he knew was starting to brew inside of her. 

He let out a breath of relief. 

“You’re alright, I promise. It’s false labor. Your body is doing what it needs to to prepare,” he murmured. He smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back. 

A daughter. 

“Braxton Hicks or whatever?” she asked, and he nodded, helping her sit up. He pulled her into a hug. “Even in Time Lord pregnancies, huh?” 

He chuckled. 

“Unfortunately. The tests say you’re a little dehydrated, which could be why it hurt so much. Please drink water, Rose, okay? Smoothies and milkshakes are -” he asked, giving her a knowing look, and she interrupted. 

“I drink water!” she said, and he just brushed her hair back again. 

“We should slow down on sex, too,” he said, and she just began to pout her lip at him, making him laugh. “Rose, I’m serious. Orgasms, lovely as they are -” 

“They are _very_ lovely. Especially with you -” she quipped, batting her lashes, and he tried to ignore the pulse in his groin. 

“- they tighten the muscles around your cervix. It’s only going to trigger these contractions the more pregnant you get. It’ll just be painful,” he said, his voice calm and steady, as if he was trying to be as scientifically objective about this as possible. 

She was bored with that game. Hormones. 

She flashed him his favorite smile and brushed her hand against his trousers, and he bit his cheek so hard he drew a little blood. 

“I like pain with pleasure,” she murmured. Her voice was silky and seductive, and the way she was looking at him was making him forget his name. “You really don’t want to have sex for, what, thirteen weeks?” 

“Probably more like seventeen or eighteen. Your body needs to heal after birth,” he whispered. She just bit her lip. 

“And if I heal myself instead?” she asked softly, tugging on his tie a little. He smirked at her. 

“That’s up to you,” he said, trying not to look at her lips. “But if you did....Then... I s’pose we could make love a little sooner. If you want to. We’re not rushing that. That’s also entirely up to you.” She nodded, her eyes dancing with his. He was so close to kissing her, but he stepped back. “But until she’s born, we should try not to.” 

“Won’t be harmful though, right? If we did?” she asked breathily, and he sighed. 

“You’re voracious, you know that?” he whispered, and she just pressed her lips to his jaw. 

“Don’t care,” she said. “I know I might cramp a little, but what I remember about Braxton Hicks is they aren’t bad or dangerous...so if I do _come_ …” She broke off to watch his reaction, and she smiled when he was successfully starting to turn to putty the breathier her voice became. “That is, if you make me feel so damn good, Doctor, I have to scream your name... It’s not _harmful,_ right?”

He gripped the side of the table. 

“No,” he groaned. “Not harmful. Just...Rose...Stop. I’m just trying to save you some pain.” 

She pulled away, smiling at him, and he let out a long breath. She nodded. 

“You’re sweet, you know that?” she asked. “Fine. No sex.” 

“No sex,” he said, their eyes still dancing. She bit her lip. 

“Ten quid you don’t last seven days,” she said, her tongue right where he wanted it. 

He stared at her, their eyes heavily flirting. 

“Careful what you wish for, Rose Tyler,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “You forget. I once went hundreds of years without sex.” 

“Yes, but that dry spell was all before sex with me. I'm very good,” she moaned, and her confidence and sly smile were unwinding his control, and she pulled on his tie again. He found himself looking down at her lips, a second away from leaning in and kissing her. “HA! See?!” 

“Doesn’t count,” he muttered, so aroused it was almost painful. “I haven’t officially made any bet, yet.”

“Mmm,” she said, rubbing her lips together. “That’s true. Guess this doesn’t count, either, then.” 

She kissed him. A long, open-mouthed, needy kiss. 

He smiled against her lips, running his hand along her thigh, and she moved to wrap her legs around his waist, holding him in place against her. Her belly sat in between them, but she was still able to rock her hips into his, and it took every ounce of willpower he had to pull away, a little breathless. “We really shouldn’t. Your body is recovering…” 

“Okay,” she said, dropping her hold on him. “You gonna make that bet, then?” 

He just rolled his eyes. “Fifteen.” 

“Done,” she said, and she winked at him. He just smiled at her. 

“You’re impossible,” he told her, and she cupped her hand to his cheek. 

“I love you,” she said. “But if we aren’t going to make hot, sweaty love on this table...Can I have a new smoothie?” 

“If you promise to also drink water,” he said, more doctor than husband for a moment, and she just made a face at him. He made one back. 

He laughed a little and helped her off, walking to the galley. He handed her a glass of water first, which she drank quickly, and when he was satisfied she’d gotten enough he made her a new smoothie.

They were bantering as always, and he told her he was fairly confident she wouldn’t have any more contractions today as long as they take things easy. She was about to suggest they just snuggle up in bed when she noticed he wasn’t using his hands to open the drawers or the refrigerator. 

“Did you...sonic them all closed?” she asked and he just sniffed. 

“Course. Having Tony onboard reminded me that kids find things. Just taking precautions now,” he said as he started the blender, and she smiled at him like he was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. 

“Doctor, she’s not going to start crawling for...I dunno, a year from now? Maybe longer with your weird aging thing, right? We don’t need to baby proof yet,” she said lovingly as he handed her the smoothie, and he just sat down across from her. 

“I....” he trailed off, realizing she was right, but he shook his head. “We’re busy, Rose Tyler. I don’t want to be so sidetracked I forget. And it’s better safe than sorry. She’s forming a telepathic bond already. Who’s to say she won’t crawl at three months old?” 

Their eyes danced, and she sipped her smoothie, placing her hand on her belly. He winked at her, moving all the dishes to the sink he knew the TARDIS would handle for him, and he grabbed an apple. “Also, I was thinking…” 

“Ooh, I love thinking,” she said, still sipping her smoothie. He smiled, mouth closed, chewing his apple. 

“If the Oath are still wolves, and if they’re still trying to find a cure...Rhodes must not have succeeded with the blood analysis,” he said. 

They weren’t positive, but they had pieced together enough information that they were pretty sure that was what the Oath of Secrets was working towards, even in 2010. 

A way to undo their bites. 

“So, I’m just thinking...Rhodes wasn’t a genius, but I am. And I have a sample of Queen Victoria’s blood sitting in the lab,” he finished. 

“You want to try and make a cure?” she asked, and he just nodded. 

“We could bring it to them. Hopefully get them to stop trying to use the diamonds. Maybe they’ll let us destroy them. Try to stop all of this before it gets ugly,” he muttered. Rose just looked at him. 

“I think it’s a great idea,” she said, finishing her smoothie, and he smiled at her. 

“Yeah?” he asked. She nodded. “We need to go to New Earth, then. I need a unique blood panel strip. They’re fascinating, Rose. Before, when we first found the blood I used the generic one, just enough to tell me who the DNA belonged to, but this time, Rose Tyler, I’ll have you know, I need the one with the green wrapper. Green, remember that! It can isolate the protein Mr. Rhodes was talking about down to particles that are so small they practically don’t exist, but it will help me see exactly -” 

“Lecture me later, yeah?” she said, smiling at him before he rambled completely, and he just hummed happily, biting his apple again. “I need some more vitamins anyway.” 

“Yes you do,” he sang, and he pulled away from the sink, tossing the apple in the bin as he moved to kiss her. “You should rest today, though. We can go tomorrow?” 

“Doctor, I’ll be fine,” she said, kissing him again. “We’ll just run into the hospital, get chips, go home.” 

“I knew you’d bring chips into this,” he said with a smile, and she slid out of her chair, winking at him as she sauntered off to go change. 

He didn’t even realize he was doing it, but he watched her walk away. 

His impossible human.


	2. Old New Friends

Nausea hadn’t been a problem for weeks, and Rose jumped out of the TARDIS eagerly, expecting to be on their beloved apple grass now that she knew it wouldn’t make her sick, but she sighed. He had parked them directly outside the hospital again, and he just kissed her and grabbed her hand as he moved toward the lobby, looking up at the clouds. 

“I could have walked. It’s a nice day,” she said, and he shook his head. 

“You need to take it easy today,” he said. “This is better.” 

She knew he was a little worried about her, and she kissed shoulder. He pulled the doors open and let her go first, taking a look around.

The new Sisterhood he recognized from their last visit in green habits were still milling about, many with patient files or medicine in their hands, and he looked over at the lifts, remembering he wasn’t sure they were safe for the baby. 

“You go ahead, I’ll just wait here again,” she said, and he sighed. 

“I really don’t want to leave you alone,” he told her, glancing over at one of the cats, and she smiled. 

“It worked fine before. I’ll go sit on that bench, okay?” she asked. He made a face, looking at the same cat, and he shook his head. 

“Well, either way, I really should know if they’re safe or not anyway. It’s ridiculous that I don’t,” he said, and she just rubbed her lips together as he swallowed his pride and walked up to the cat, getting her attention with a gentle tap. 

“Excuse me,” he began, and she looked at him. “My wife is almost seven months pregnant. The decontamination lifts, are they safe for her and the baby?” 

She nodded, “Quite safe, sir. Is she here for an exam?” 

“No,” he said, scoffing and laughing in disbelief at the same time, thinking there was no way in hell any of them were touching her, green habits or not. Rose rubbed his arm, telling him he was being rude again. He cleared his throat. “No. Um..prenatal vitamins. And I need to pick up a blood panel kit.” 

He flashed his psychic paper, very aware that wasn’t the type of thing they would just _give_ to him, and the cat’s smile began to fall, replaced by a look of awe. “You’re the Doctor and Rose Tyler, aren’t you? We were told about that special paper of yours.” 

He suppressed an irritated groan. 

“We’re just here for vitamins. And a panel if you can spare one,” he said, not confirming her question. 

The cat stared at him, and Rose glanced over her shoulder when the side door opened quickly, and a very thin, hovering gurney was brought inside. The cats who were leading it toward the lifts seemed a little frantic, and Rose noticed the person on the gurney appeared lethargic and quite red in the face, and she looked back at the cat before them. 

“Why do you ask?” she asked. The woman looked around, making sure no one was within earshot, and she beckoned them to follow. 

“Someone has been waiting for you. Come,” she said quietly, and the Doctor sighed. Rose looked at him, and he clenched his jaw, but he held her hand as he followed the woman in green toward the lifts, and she pressed a button so one would open. “After you.” 

“We’re really not here for -” he tried to say, but the cat just smiled and closed the lift. The decontamination sequence began, and Rose was much more prepared this time around, holding the Doctor’s hand as they moved from wet to dry in the span of one minute, stepping off the lift into a small room. 

“Right this way,” the woman said, and the Doctor looked at Rose. 

_Instincts?_

_Quiet. Let’s just see._

He raised an eyebrow at her and they followed the cat. The room was just a waiting area, it seemed, but no one was there, and the Doctor noticed a few small benches and thin computers he knew were check-in stations. 

“What do you call yourselves?” he asked. The woman looked at him in surprise as she opened another door. 

“What do you mean?” she asked. 

“Before,” he said. “The Sisters of Plenitude...Are you…?” 

“Oh,” she said. “We are not associated. We’re the Sisters of Gratitude.” 

He burst into laughter, and Rose bit her lip when the woman seemed taken aback. He managed to control it fairly quickly and coughed away any remaining chuckles, holding Rose's hand. “Right.” 

“I’m Sister Hart,” she said, ignoring his laughter. “Our order was based out of New New Hampshire for the last hundred years, but we were transferred here after...Thank you for all you did that day.” 

He just watched her carefully as she opened one final door, and she gestured, letting them go ahead of her. 

“What’s in there?” he asked, not interested in having to do any running when he knew it would probably trigger more contractions for Rose at the moment. Sister Hart just smiled. 

“You will see,” she said. Rose just squeezed his hand. 

“I’ll be okay,” Rose said, their minds still open enough for her to know what he was thinking about. “They aren’t harmful, and I’ve survived much worse.” 

He bit his cheek when he saw the eagerness in her eyes to keep exploring.

“Yeah?” he asked, unable to resist flirting with her a little. She nodded, rubbing the back of his hand. 

“Yeah. Don’t know if you’ve heard of ‘em, but I’ve fought the Cyberman, the Wiccens, the Wire, the Beast…Oh, the Sidekicks...The Daleks a few times. Not to mention I absorbed the Vortex once,” she said, winking at him, and he just smirked. “I can handle some stomach cramps, I promise.” 

“Show off,” he murmured, and his favorite smile came out to play. They laughed together as they entered the room, but they stopped almost immediately. 

The Face of Boe sat in the middle, hooked up to many wires, and the Doctor looked at Sister Hart. Rose stared at him, remembering him from the day she watched the Earth burn. 

That was their first date. 

They had chips. 

“This is who wanted to see us?” the Doctor asked softly. Sister Hart smiled. 

“He is asleep. Let me wake him,” she said, and she moved toward the glass, placing her hand on it very carefully, and Rose and the Doctor both watched as he shifted slightly in the container, his eyes fluttering open. 

The Doctor clenched his jaw and waited, but it wasn’t long before the Face of Boe spotted him, and he gently nodded his head. 

“Doctor,” he said, his voice full of life. The Doctor just smiled. 

“Hello,” he replied, taking a step closer. Rose followed, and she stayed standing as her husband knelt down in front of him, looking him over. “You look good.” 

“I am a wrinkled prune,” he said, and the Doctor breathed out a small laugh. “You, however, look quite happy. I see your wife is here, too. Hello again, Rose Tyler.” 

“You know we’re married?” the Doctor asked, not surprised, but intrigued. The Face of Boe just laughed. 

“Oh, I know many things, Doctor. I know what an impossible thing she is,” he told him. “You are not alone.” 

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who smiled at him, and he winked in return. “No. Not even close.” 

“How are you feeling, Rose? The baby?” the Face of Boe asked, and Rose just bit her lip, trailing her hand along her stomach. 

“Good,” she said. “Do you know about her, too?” 

“I do,” the Face of Boe said. “Her name is Alice.” 

Rose just looked at the Doctor, who shook his head and smiled. She smiled, too. “It’s nice to see you again. We didn’t get to talk much last time.” 

“No,” the Face of Boe said. “Cassandra interrupted us on both occasions.” 

Rose’s brow furrowed, and the Doctor just grinned, realizing he had somehow never told her about that. “Oh! Right, sorry, love. He was here. Dying, but our cocktail saved him. We chatted when you were, well, when Cassandra…” 

“Got it,” Rose said, laughing a little, and she looked back down at the Face of Boe, placing her hand on his glass container. “Why did you want to talk to us?” 

He was silent for a moment. 

“To ask for your help,” he said. 

She shared a glance with the Doctor, whose jaw clenched a few times as he watched the Face of Boe carefully. 

“What do you need?” he asked. 

“It’s not about what I need, Doctor. It’s about what you do,” he said cryptically. “I am, once again, dying.” 

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said seriously, and Rose moved to try and sit by her husband. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do these days, and he helped as best he could until she was at his side, and the Face of Boe just chuckled, admiring the way they cared for each other. 

“You two make the universe spin properly on its very wobbly axis,” he whispered. 

“Do we?” the Doctor asked with a smile, and the Face of Boe sighed. 

“My universe, at least…” he muttered so quietly they almost didn’t hear him. Rose opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but the Face of Boe just continued to talk. “You need information.” 

“About?” the Doctor asked, confused. Rose felt herself deducting alongside him, and Sister Hart was just standing in the corner, watching. 

“I want you to let me die,” the Face of Boe said. “But before I do...I need your help making sure what is killing me stops killing others.” 

“If it’s something we can stop, we can save you,” the Doctor urged. “Let us help.” 

“You will help,” the Face of Boe said. “But I am old enough to know a longer life is not always a better one.”

“Who told you that?” the Doctor asked, his hearts starting to beat rapidly in his chest. They were words he used to think quite often, so very long ago. 

Before Rose. 

“I’m tired, Doctor,” the Face of Boe said instead. “Everything lives and everything dies.” 

“You don’t have to,” Rose countered. 

“I want to,” the Face of Boe said. “I have seen so many things. Done so many things. But there is nothing else I can do in this glass box. It’s...smaller. On the inside. Makes it...” 

His words were sentimental almost, and it made Rose’s stomach flip over. The Doctor felt his throat tighten, everything the Face of Boe was saying suddenly stirring up feelings he thought he’d buried with Rassilon, and he found himself not caring that Sister Hart could see as he ran his hand up Rose’s back under her shirt, needing to feel the tangible, warm proof that she was still there next to him.

“What is it? That’s killing you?” the Doctor whispered, and the Face of Boe just sighed. 

“It’s a new illness,” Sister Hart chimed in. “We are doing everything we can to find a cure…” 

“Not everything I hope,” the Doctor said warningly, giving Sister Hart a careful look. She shook her head. 

“Of course not….We’re not doing _that,_ ” she said. “It’s just...difficult. For some reason, this illness...there’s nothing medicine seems to be able to do.” 

“Any fatalities?” the Doctor asked. Sister Hart nodded. 

“”A few,” she replied. The Doctor frowned. 

“Why didn’t you message us on the psychic paper? We could have come sooner,” he questioned, and the Face of Boe just chuckled. 

“I had a feeling you would come on your own,” he said. “Call it an...instinct.”

Rose and the Doctor both felt the wind get knocked out of them. 

“What did you just say?” Rose whispered, and the Face of Boe closed his eyes. 

“I believe it transferred to me through the wires. They are what keeps this chamber safe and sound for my pruny head,” he said. 

The Doctor immediately scanned the container, and then stood so he could also scan the many, many wires that were hooked up to him. Rose watched, knowing she would need help getting up off the floor, and she looked back over at Sister Hart. 

“There was a patient getting brought in through a side door,” she said. “The other nuns seemed…” 

“I’ll show you,” Sister Hart said. “I just...The Face of Boe asked to see you first, before we did.” 

“Very strange…” the Doctor muttered. 

“What?” Rose asked. 

“It’s almost...It’s like there’s a computer virus inside,” he said. “It’s glitching.” 

“And what? It’s somehow infecting people?” Rose asked.

“Yes. The way an airborne virus would,” he mumbled. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

“Well, you are a genius, Doctor,” the Face of Boe said. “I trust that you will figure it all out. And when you do, I have a secret for you.”

The Doctor felt a shiver run through him, remembering Sister Hame’s words. 

_“The Face of Boe will impart his greatest secret upon his death, but only to one like himself. An ancient traveller of the stars, a ‘Lonely God,’”_

“A secret?” Rose asked, her own mind thinking of Queen Victoria, and her heart began beating so hard she could hear it in her ears. “You are...quite enigmatic you know that?” 

“I said that! Textbook, I said!” the Doctor exclaimed, temporarily forgetting his own curiosity.

She just smiled at him. 

“You should go. Get to work. I will be here,” the Face of Boe said. The Doctor’s smile fell, a new thought finding him that made him doubt if he should. 

“Rose is pregnant,” he said. “I can’t risk this infecting her.” 

“I can heal myself,” Rose reminded him, and he clenched his jaw. 

“No need to fret. It only affects humans, it seems. The Sisterhood has been unaffected,” the Face of Boe said. 

The Doctor just looked at him, finding all of this confusing and intriguing and wonderful in a way he couldn’t quite explain. “What makes you think Rose isn’t human?” 

He wasn’t interrogating him, he was genuinely so fascinated by this ancient being, and the Face of Boe just laughed. 

“I know more about both of you than you think. She and Alice should both be just fine,” he assured him. 

The Doctor looked at Rose, who was playing with her wedding ring, staring at the Face of Boe. He helped her stand up, checking in with her with his eyes, and she kissed his cheek. 

“We will be back as soon as we can,” the Doctor said. 

“Thank you, Doctor and Rose…” he whispered, and Rose gave him a half-smile as the Doctor grabbed her hand, and they followed Sister Hart back through the rooms, their minds working together. 

“When did all of this start?” the Doctor asked. Sister Hart sighed. 

“About three weeks ago,” she said. “The Face of Boe was the first to sense something was wrong. Perhaps his telepathic abilities helped, I am not sure...” 

“What symptoms are there, exactly?” the Doctor asked, pushing a door open.

“High fever, that’s how it starts,” Sister Hart said. Rose nibbled on her lip as they took the lift back up to the third floor, and Sister Hart took them to a special ward, secluded from the others, and Rose gasped. 

There were close to two hundred beds.


	3. Save the Day

“We don’t want to alarm the public until we know what this is. So anyone we take in who is exhibiting high enough fevers that we suspect it’s _this,_ we bring in through the side of the hospital and take them here. Far enough away from other patients that we hope we can isolate them in a way…” she began. 

The Doctor threw his glasses on his nose as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to scan. It was all jarring and confusing, and Rose looked around slowly. 

A third of the patients seemed fine, though their faces were red from their fevers. A third were practically having seizures. He watched one of the patients twitch forcefully on their bed, and he started there, scanning one of the bodies carefully, his face hard and concentrated. 

“Muscle spasms,” he whispered. “Do you know your name?” 

“Lee,” the man said, still twitching, and the Doctor raised his brow, not having expected him to reply so calmly. Rose moved to the back of the room, her own sonic screwdriver ready to go. 

The final third were rock solid, almost like stone or ice, a frozen moment in time. 

“What the hell?!” she snapped, turning to look at Sister Hart. The Doctor glanced over where she was looking, leaving Lee’s side for a moment as he rushed to one of the frozen bodies, and Sister Hart shook her head. 

“It’s the final stage,” she whispered. “The first is the fever. The second are those spasms. The third is this. A state of paralysis, but eventually all organs will shut down. They will die. We have them hooked up to a series of compounds to try and delay the inevitable...So we can find a cure.” 

Rose stared at her, but the Doctor was still scanning, and he clenched his jaw. “This doesn’t make any sense…” 

A thought came to Rose, and she grabbed the Doctor’s arm. 

“If it’s only affecting humans, Doctor, why is the Face of Boe -” she began, but he just shook his head. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t even know who the Face of Boe is. For all I know he was human once. Or still is. He must still have enough human DNA that this...” 

Rose felt her heartbeat skip when he said those words, her instincts waking up, and she moved over to the group of people who had the fever. “Hello,” she began. “My name is Rose. May I?” 

She held up her sonic and they all nodded, and the Doctor watched as she gathered information, locking eyes with him. 

“Their fever is 48 degrees,” she said, and the Doctor’s eyes widened. 

48 degrees Celsius. 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 322.029 degrees Kelvin….

“Humans can’t survive that. It’s certain death,” he said darkly, a small panic in his voice. “How are they even awake?!” 

“We don’t know,” Sister Hart said. 

“You all should have written to us weeks ago,” he said, trying not to get angry. “They’re burning from the inside out. It should melt their brain, this temperature. It should be stopping their heart...Causing strokes or...Unless…Ohhhh unless....” 

He moved to the frozen bodies, scanning them quickly, and he clenched his jaw. “It’s electrical, the Face of Boe said. Not bacterial. Not viral. Electrical.” 

“In their brain?” Rose asked. He shook his head. 

“No…” he muttered. “They’re responding to us. I need something that will let me do an X-Ray.” 

Sister Hart ran and grabbed a small square shaped device, handing it to him, and he used it to scan the body he was in front of, displaying the X-Ray up in the wall with a projection. 

Rose moved to stand beside him, not exactly aware of what she was looking at, and he just shook his head. “What?!.”

“What?” she asked. 

“They’re…” he said, trailing off, unsure of how to describe what he was looking at. “They look human. All the scans are saying they are human. But...there’s something about them that’s….different.” 

“We’ve done blood tests, bone marrow analyses, cultures, you name it. We’ve tried everything. We can’t figure it out,” Sister Hart said. He turned and stared at her. 

“Did anyone flinch?” he asked. 

“What?” she asked. 

“When you were poking and prodding...Did any of them react? The way a human would?” he asked. 

“I...I don’t know. I didn’t think about it,” she said. He sniffed, running back over to the group that was twitching. 

“He’s been having constant muscle convulsions for the last fifteen minutes, and yet I asked him his name, and he responded without hesitation. It’s as if it's not affecting him,” he said, 

“But it is. He’s on his way to becoming paralyzed,” Sister Hart said, but Rose was catching on. 

“Yes, but he can’t feel it. They can withstand pain in a way that most humans can’t,” she whispered, and the Doctor smiled at her. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking, my love?” he asked. 

Rose looked over at Sister Hart, her mind almost giddy to put all of this together. 

Almost. If they were right, it was all incorrigible. 

“The Sisters of Plenitude...Did they do any sort of inventory? As awful as that sounds…” she asked. 

“What do you mean?” she said, confused. Rose groaned, wishing people could just keep up, and it made the Doctor laugh despite the circumstance. 

She was a proper Time Lady. 

“I mean the people they were experimenting on,” she said. “Did they have a way of keeping track of them? Anything electrical? Microchips in their wrists, anything like that?” 

“I...I don’t know,” she said. “We just shut that entire experiment down.” 

Rose sighed and crossed back to the people with the fevers, scanning them again. “Where do you live?” 

“Upper West Side,” they replied. 

“And what about you?” she asked another. 

“Mid-City,” they said. 

“So you all live in different parts of the city?” she asked, they nodded. “Were you kept in those chambers here? Before?” Rose asked, and they all stared at her, and then nodded again. 

Bingo. 

“HA!!” the Doctor said, smiling at her, and he turned to Sister Hart.”You never checked if they were the subspecies of humans, did you?” 

“No,” she said. “We just...Why would that matter? They’re all still human.” 

“Yes, yes they are...Except look,” he said, pointing at the X-Ray. “Their pain receptors are almost tripled in size. Their nerves are practically steel...I’ve never seen it before.” 

“I just thought that was part of the illness,” she whispered, realizing what a huge mistake she’d made.

Rose crossed back over to them, her interest peaked. 

“Mutation?” Rose asked. The Doctor shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “Just a new type of human. They built up an intolerance to pain because they had to.” 

“So...will it infect the people who weren’t...I’m sorry. What they did to them was awful, I just...” Sister Hart asked. The Doctor shook his head. 

“It shouldn’t. Only the subspecies. I don’t know why it’s infecting the Face of Boe, but we’ll worry about that later…” he said, breaking off and looking back around the room.

“But why?” Sister Hart said. “What’s causing it?” 

He looked at Rose, grabbing her hand. 

“Think with me?” he asked, she nodded, leaning against the wall as they worked together. 

“A computer virus acting like an airborne virus….This city has the largest electrical grid in the history of the universe, doesn’t it?” she asked. “It powers everything?” 

He nodded, still thinking, and she ran to the window, pushing the blinds open so she could stare out at the city of New New York, looking at all the skyscrapers and hover cars, and she felt the Doctor come to stand next to her, grabbing her hand again without even realizing it. 

“The only way the virus could reach members of the subspecies in every part of the city is if the virus was using the electricity in the main power grid…” she muttered. 

He kissed her. She laughed a little when he pulled away, running his hand through his hair, his mind spinning a thousand miles a minute. 

“How are you two doing this?” Sister Hart asked. “It took us three weeks just to understand there were stages. I - “

“We’re very good,” the Doctor said quickly, brushing her off as he looked back at Rose. “We have to clear the grid.” 

“Yes, but...Not yet,” Rose suggested. “We need to know why. How is the grid communicating with their bodies? Is it a code making them sick?” 

He stared at her, and she ran her hand along her belly. 

She was so bloody brilliant it was making him speechless. She was out-thinking him at the moment, and when she turned to get his input, she saw the slightly dazed expression on his face that he gets when he was trying to process how any of this was possible. How he got her. How they managed to find forever. She just smiled. 

_Doctor._

_Sorry. I love you a lot._

There was an innocence in his voice as it rang in her head, and it made her smile widely and kiss him. He responded in kind, allowing himself two seconds to breathe in all the Rose he could, before she pulled away and took a deep breath. 

“I love you forever, yeah?” she said with a wink. “But we have to focus.”

“Right, yes, good” he said, clearing his throat. “They don’t have a microchip. That would have shown up in our scans. But you’re right. There’s something about their biology the grid has attacked in some way.” 

They just looked at each other, thinking. 

“Well, what makes up an electrical wire?” she asked. “What kind of materials?”

“The ones attached to the Face of Boe had iron coils, aluminum springs, steel conduits….” he said, and they both groaned from how obvious it was. 

Well, at least to them. 

“You said their nerves were like steel,” Rose said. 

“Oh, yes. But it’s more than that. So much more!” he cried out, running back to the X-Ray, talking so quickly Sister Hart had no idea what either of them were saying. “OF COURSE! After being tortured and bred and harvested, their bodies did what humans do best. They found a way to adapt and survive. They changed their biology, possibly from some combination of illnesses, that part doesn’t matter…” 

“Sorry, what does this mean?” Sister Hart asked. 

He forgot she was there. 

“Nerves of Steel. It’s an old Earth idiom. Means someone has the ability to remain calm in the face of danger or chaos, or even death. Most of the time it’s just a description. But in this case...It’s real. Rose was right, of course she was, she always is. They can withstand pain at rates no one else can.” 

For a moment, the air in the room felt heavy, and the Doctor just looked at the bodies around them with sorrow, until he realized this wasn’t a problem, but a solution. 

“I love you!” the Doctor shouted, kissing Rose’s forehead just like he did that day on Satellite 5, and for a moment, she saw him in a leather jacket. 

He winked at her as he ran back to the X-Ray, and he picked up some sort of tablet that was practically invisible except for a thin white frame, flipping through some of the results from the tests Sister Hart had talked about. “Oh, this is beautiful! Absolutely BRILLIANT! HA! I always found that phrase so cliché, Rose Tyler, but it’s not! It’s brilliant!” 

Rose was smiling, and the Doctor was running around manically, his hair wild and eyes crazed. 

He kissed her again, each brush of her lips giving him a new surge of determination, and she sent him a wave of love in their minds. 

He said something she didn’t understand, muttering too quickly and too quietly, and Sister Hart just watched him with wide eyes. “Is he alright?” 

“Oh, he’s thrilled, trust me,” Rose said. “He’ll tell us when he’s ready. I could try to help but I don’t want to ruin his fun.” 

She smiled at him as he laughed over the frozen bodies, bouncing on his feet. 

“You two are...You live up to the legends,” Sister Hart said. “Thank you.” 

“Don’t thank us yet,” Rose told her. “We still have to save them.” 

“Rose,” the Doctor said, but he was interrupted for a moment when Alice woke up, and they both felt the feeling of swimming enter their minds. He stopped and smiled, before he shook his head to refocus. “I think I figured it out.” 

“Lay it on me,” she said, her tongue poking the corner of her mouth. 

Alice kept moving and they kept feeling in their heads, and he just looked at Rose’s belly lovingly. He placed his hands on her skin, trying to tell Alice he knew she was saying hello so maybe she could let him concentrate. 

It didn’t work. 

Rose bit her lip and just tilted her head to the side. “We could enact blocks.” 

“Why would we do that?” he said, almost like the thought broke his hearts. “This isn’t as important as she is.” Rose bit back a wide smile when she saw the look of shock on Sister Hart’s face, and she just gave the Doctor a look. “What?” 

“Nothing,” she said, fully aware he had no idea how rude that sounded, and she felt her heart swell a bit. He was just...an excited father. “You still havent told me what you figured out.” 

“Right, sorry,” he said, pulling his hand off of her stomach. “Steel, for a long time, was all produced with coal. In this year, on this planet, after having to relocate the population of Earth fifteen times because climate change continued to be a problem humans just couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around, it’s all made with electricity. But, if it’s not properly installed or overused, even steel made this way can corrode.” 

“So you’re saying the steel is...what?” she asked. 

“Rusting,” he said. “Inside of them. The virus is causing it to corrode somehow. Whatever is going on there is somehow seeping into the bloodstream of the subspecies and poisoning them. They are, essentially, suffering from a type of tetanus.” 

Sister Hart stared at him. 

“Tetanus?” she asked. “That’s it?” 

“Weeeeelllll, I said a _kind_ of tetanus. It’s a new strand. Unique. Not a variant I’ve ever seen before. Makes sense why your medicine won’t work, it needs new medicine! But, basically, yes. Tetanus,” he said, sniffing. “Think about it, Sister Hart. Tetanus leads to fever, muscle spasms, and stiffening of joints, and death...”

Rose bit her lip, and she squeezed the Doctor’s hand. “Can we cure them?” 

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Course we can. Just a simple modification of a classic tetanus shot. It’ll take me an hour,” he said. “Rose, phone Mickey on your mobile. Hack the grid. Figure out how the virus is spreading, yeah?” 

“Okay,” she said, smiling at him widely, and they kissed in a frenzy. 

“You’re just going to hack the grid?” Sister Hart asked. 

“Yes,” he said, moving over to the patients and doing one final scan. 

“That’s...you could get arrested!” she exclaimed. 

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he scoffed. “And only if we get caught. Which Rose won’t. Much too clever.” 

Sister Hart just looked at Rose, who was trying so hard not to snog him senselessly at the moment. 

“The grid connects to every server in the entire city,” Rose said. “That empty lobby we passed with all those computers, I’ll go there.” 

“Brilliant,” the Doctor said. “Sister Hart, I need access to a lab.” 

“I’m so confused,” she said. “Just….go. Through there. Do what you need to do.” 

“Thank you,” the Doctor said, and he smiled at Rose. “Allons-y!” 

They worked quickly. The Doctor had modified a tetanus shot once before, lifetimes ago to save a group of hikers on a far away planet, and it was all coming back to him in a flurry as he mixed and isolated what he needed to. With New Earth’s advanced equipment, duplicating the shot was not difficult, and he was trying to make sure they had as many doses as possible just in case. 

He nudged his mind to Rose, who filled him in on what she had found. 

It took a bit of digging and lots of hacking, and some help from Mickey, but she eventually figured out the computer virus was a glitch in the system caused by the grid’s own steel corrosion, and that the entire mainframe and every steel conduit on every wire needed to be completely replaced. 

She also figured out that there was a reason it was infecting the subspecies the way an airborne virus would. 

_The grid is emitting the virus into the air._

He stopped what he was doing. 

_What?_

_Yeah, I’m scanning now, and there’s mid-low levels of radioactive particles coming off the grid’s server as the steel breaks down. It’s like...dust particles._

_They’re breathing it in. That’s how they contract the virus. The particles get into their bloodstream and then it causes their nerves to corrode._

He ran a hand over his face, the only solution he could think of dangerous and careless, but he knew it would save the most people. 

_Blow it up._

_What? Are you crazy?!_

_You have to. If the steel conduits in the entire grid are corroding, they need to be replaced. The only way to ensure that happens properly and that this can’t happen again is to rebuild the grid entirely. And the only way to ensure this city will do that is to blow the damn thing to pieces._

_Doctor -_

_I know. But everyone will be okay. It’s just electricity, Rose. People lived without it for millenia._

_Tell that to them._

She was teasing, already aware that he was right and this was the best way to ensure that everyone lives, when suddenly, a voice neither expected rang in their heads, using their own telepathy to help. 

_Do it, Rose._

She shuddered when she heard the Face of Boe’s voice, and she thanked Mickey, hanging up and staring at the computer. 

_Is the cure ready?_

_Almost._

_Let’s heal them first, then do this. Instincts._

_Okay._

Within twenty minutes, the Doctor was handing vials of a cure to Sister Hart, and he helped administer them all to every patient, and when the ones who were frozen began to move, he knew it worked. 

“You have a backup generator, right?” he murmured to Sister Hart. She nodded. 

“Yes, why?” she asked. 

“Just checking,” he whispered. 

_Do it._

Rose sighed and shot a beam of light at the computer, and she ran away as it began to combust, ignoring the twinges she was feeling in her belly. She was overdoing it, she knew, and when she got to the Doctor he pulled her him and scanned her. "You alright?"

"Fine," she said. "Look." 

The city, the Doctor could see through the window, went dark. 

For a moment, nothing happened. 

Then everyone panicked. 

It reminded them both of that day at Royal Hope Hospital a few months ago, and they were trying to help keep people calm as the generator kicked in, and, with the lights back on people began to breathe, and things were okay. 

Outside was madness, however, and Rose and the Doctor knew they needed to get out of there. Sister Hart was yelling, keeping everyone right where they were, when suddenly both Rose and the Doctor felt a scream in their heads that didn’t belong to them. 

“The Face of Boe…” he said, an alarm in his voice. 

They ran.


	4. Goodbyes

By the time they reached the room he was in, the Face of Boe had broken out of his glass chamber and was lying on the floor, gasping for air. 

The Doctor ran to him, ignoring the cuts he got on his knees as he slid into place beside him. Rose was a little more careful, and she pushed the glass aside to make a safe spot to sit, kneeling down as best she could. 

His skin looked even more wrinkled out of the case, and Rose watched as he opened his eyes to look at them, and she swore a faint smile was etching itself onto his features. 

“Rose,” he said. “Doctor.” 

“We’re here,” the Doctor said sadly, “I’m sorry.” 

“No, no,” the Face of Boe said. “This is what I asked for. For you to let me go. When the grid broke, it severed the wires on my box. Broke it….This is good.” 

They both stared at him. 

“You weren’t sick were you?” Rose whispered. “You knew what we had to do to stop the virus. You knew it would break the box. You knew…” 

“Clever, wasn’t it?” he asked. “I am dying from old age. The box was helping me until...I asked Sister Hart to play along. She...She is a good friend.” 

The Doctor shook his head. 

“You helped us save the subspecies,” he told him. “Thank you.” 

“What is it you two always say? A Day in the Life of a Time Lord?” he asked, coughing a little. The Doctor stiffened. 

“How do you know that?” he asked. “You’ve said a lot of things today that...I can’t figure out how you knew them.” 

“You’ll figure it out,” the Face of Boe said. “Thank you for saving the city.” 

“They’re all terrified,” Rose said. He just chuckled. 

“Grids can be repaired,” he said. “This time properly.” 

“Quite right,” the Doctor murmured. “You had something you wanted to tell us.” 

“I did,” he whispered. “In a moment. For now. Let me sit with you.” 

There was something about the tone of his voice that broke Rose’s heart, and for a reason she didn’t understand, she found herself crying. The Doctor looked at her, reaching for her hand, and the Face of Boe’s mouth trembled just a touch. 

“Please don’t do that,” he said. “It is my time.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping away tears. “You’re just...I keep getting this impression we mean something to you. I wish I knew how to help.” 

The Face of Boe stayed silent, as if debating how much he wanted to tell them, and he looked over at the Doctor. “My secret...” 

“Take your time,” the Doctor said, sensing how hard air was becoming for him. 

“What you are dealing with, it’s not what you think. The Oath...The Queen...They are not the only ones keeping secrets. Be prepared. Keep watching, Doctor, ” he said. “And remember...your daughter will howl the loudest when the moon is the brightest.” 

The room was silent for a moment. 

Rose instinctively touched her belly, and the Doctor let out a long breath. He closed his eyes, focusing on the beat of Rose’s heart in his ring. “Will she be okay?” 

“If you are prepared,” he wheezed, and Rose watched his Adam’s apple bob.

“Anything else you can tell us?” Rose asked. 

“No. Timelines,” he whispered. 

“You sound like my father,” the Doctor said, slight irritation in his voice. 

The Face of Boe sighed, letting out another cough. “I sound like you.” 

Rose felt those tears starting to brim again, and she wasn’t sure if it was the prophecy he just spoke or the way he smiled at the Doctor, but she felt her Instincts doing their very best to figure it out. “Who are you?” 

“I am the Face of Boe,” he said. “You are Rose Tyler.” 

“No…” she whispered. “I mean, yes. But...you know us.” 

“All will become clear in time. I just wanted to die...with my friends by my side,” he said softly. 

Rose felt tears spill over, and she just stared at the Face of Boe carefully, her instincts putting the pieces together. 

His comment about the chamber not being like the TARDIS; each quote he muttered that she knew they had said first; the fact that he knew about their forever. How ancient he was. An immortal being who, she could only assume, must have figured out a way to die after all.

“Jack?” 

Her voice broke. 

The Doctor snapped his attention to her, and he felt his hearts beating rapidly in his chest. “What?” 

The Face of Boe stared at her, and he let out a breath. “You were always so damn smart, Rosie.”

She inhaled sharply, her throat painfully swollen as more tears began to fall. The Doctor’s brow furrowed, his breathing growing shallow, and he held Rose’s hand. 

“You shouldn’t be telling us this,” he said. “This…” 

“You aren’t going to say anything,” the Face of Boe asked. “No one has called me by that name in...Oh…..a very long time.” 

“We’ve been….we’re gone, aren’t we?” Rose asked. 

“You two?” the Face of Boe said. “You’re here, aren’t you? My best friends.” 

“I can heal you,” Rose pleaded. “Whatever is wrong, I can use my energy and I can heal you -” 

“Rose,” the Doctor said, and she just shook her head. 

“We can’t let him die! No! I won’t. I won’t just watch -” she said, but the Face of Boe smiled at her, and she stopped talking. “Jack, please.” 

“I told you before,” he said. “I am ready to go.” 

She sniffed back her tears, and the Doctor pulled her to him, pushing glass out of the way as he did. “Come here.” 

She sobbed on his suit coat, and the Doctor looked down at the Face of Boe, letting out a shaky breath. “You shouldn’t have told us any of this.” 

“Oh, don’t start,” the Face of Boe said, and the Doctor, despite his own tears that were threatening to fall, laughed. 

“Cheeky,” he said. 

“Aren’t I?” the Face of Boe said, chuckling, but the laugh turned into a long cough, and the Doctor closed his eyes. “Just sit with me. Please.” 

“Okay,” the Doctor managed to say, his voice thick. Rose pulled away from him and wiped her eyes, even as more tears fell, and she looked at the Face of Boe with an expression no one could quite read. 

“What happened to your body?” she asked, and the Doctor shook his head. 

“We can’t know any more, Rose,” he said softly. “Let’s just sit with him.”

She nodded. 

“Don’t forget to breathe, Rosie,” the Face of Boe said, and she just smirked at him. 

“Why? You expecting me to faint?” she whispered, and she could almost swear he was crying with her. “I know we’ll probably see you tomorrow or...soon. I know, for us... We still have all this time….But....In case I never said it. In case I got too caught up in the fact that we all….In case…” 

“Rose,” the Doctor whispered, kissing her head. “Breathe, baby.” 

“We love you, Jack,” she said. The Doctor pulled her to him, comforting her and kissing her forehead, and the Face of Boe just watched, quite happy his last memory will be of the love the two of them share. 

He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, his air nearly depleted. “For being my friends. For being here now.” 

The Doctor just looked at him, and he held back his own tears as he lifted two fingers, giving him a final salute. 

He closed his eyes, and Rose the Doctor sat, waiting, for another few moments until they saw the air leave his mouth, and he was gone. 

Rose broke down, and the Doctor sniffed, averting his eyes from the Face of Boe entirely and turning his body toward his wife, hugging her close. “It’s okay.” 

She collapsed against him and sobbed, and he kissed her hair, and rocked her gently back and forth. They didn’t move from that spot for a while, and when she felt a headache coming on she pulled away and let out a breath, fluttering her lips. 

“He lived to be over 500 billion years old,” the Doctor said. “We’ll see him again.” 

“I just wasn’t prepared for that. Not at all. I never expected to...Not with him...I…” she said, and the Doctor nodded, grinding his teeth. 

“He shouldn’t have told us,” he muttered. “But...s’pose, what can I expect? It’s Jack. He never plays by the rules.” 

“He wasn’t going to,” she whispered. “Instincts...They put it all together.” 

“Oh, with all those hints he dropped?” the Doctor asked with a smile, rubbing her tears away with his thumb. “I think he wanted you to figure it out.” 

“No one should be alone when they die,” she said. “I’m really glad.…I’m…” 

“I know,” he said, pulling her to him again. “I know. Me too.” 

The door opened and the Doctor looked over his shoulder to see Sister Hart walk in, and she immediately dropped the food she had on a tray for both of them when she realized what had happened. She stared, shocked, and the Doctor reluctantly stepped away from Rose to walk up to her, looking at her carefully. 

“He’s…” she said, and he nodded. 

“Didn’t feel any pain,” he whispered. “He lived a long time, Sister Hart. A very...One might say too long. He did. He’s happy.” 

She just began to tremble, and he clenched his jaw, looking over at Rose, who was trying to stand on her own. 

“Rose, glass, be careful,” he said, running to her and helping her stand up. He left his hands on her arms, his eyes darting over her face to check in on her, and she smiled a little. 

“Hello,” she whispered. 

“Hello,” he said, kissing her. Sister Hart was standing next to them, and she knelt down, placing a hand on the Face of Boe’s cheek. 

“Goodbye, friend,” she said. “I came to tell you. The city is freaking out a little, but it worked. The virus is out of all of the subspecies’ systems and emergency services are already trying to replace all the steel conduits. Thank you.” 

“I’m glad,” the Doctor said, nodding at her. 

“I also have these for you,” she said, handing him a bottle of prenatal vitamins and a blood panel strip, and he sniffed, placing them both in the pocket of his suit coat. 

“Thank you,” he said. 

No one knew what to say, and Rose was finding being in the room overwhelming, so they politely made their goodbyes and walked away. Rose glanced back once, but the Doctor squeezed her hand as they took the lifts back to the lobby. 

They could see some of the sirens and feel the urgency of the entire city. Many people pushed past them on their way to get into the hospital for one way or another. The Doctor kept Rose close, their blocks up, and he just rubbed her back as they approached the TARDIS. 

Her headache, the kind humans get when they cry an inordinate amount of salty, wet tears, was throbbing, and after he took them to the Vortex he ran to the infirmary and brought her some medicine, which she took silently. 

Neither spoke.


	5. We're All Dust

He made them both some food, and he watched Rose with concern as she sort of pushed her meal around the plate. He sniffed and took a bite, reaching for her hand. 

“You gotta eat, Rose,” he whispered. 

“I will,” she said, taking a small bite. “See?” 

“Thank you,” he replied. She just stared back down at the plate, and he swallowed. “Talk to me?” 

She was silent for a moment, and when she spoke, she broke his hearts. 

“It’s my fault,” she whispered. “That he lived that long. That he was that...tired. That lonely…” 

“Don’t,” the Doctor murmured, cupping a hand to her cheek. “He never saw it that way.” 

“I know,” she said. “But that just...makes it worse.” 

He just looked at her, and she took a deep breath, shoving a bite of food into her mouth he wasn’t sure she chewed, and she buried her face in her hands. She wasn’t crying, but when she dropped them her face was pink and flushed as if she hadn’t taken a breath, and he clenched his jaw. 

“He was okay,” the Doctor said. “He was.” 

“I just can’t stop thinking about how long he lived without us,” she whispered. 

“He never said he did,” the Doctor told her softly. “Beauty of time. It’s all relative. We could die in a thousand years...That’s still billions of years before he did, but we could still see him all the time. He might have never been without us. Not really. We don’t know, and we can’t know. We just have to…” 

“Hold on tight?” she asked, and he smiled at her. 

“Make choices as we go,” he said. “We were there for him. That’s all we could have done today.” 

“Yeah,” she said, letting out a really shaky breath. “I want to go see him.” 

“Tomorrow,” he said softly. “We had a long day. You need rest. And you need water. Drink. Please?” 

She nodded, and she ended up scarfing down the rest of her food and water without saying much else. He just watched as she stood and kissed his head, and then walked away to the ensuite to shower. 

He moved the TARDIS. 

When she walked back into the bedroom, she stopped, staring at him. 

He was in his leather jacket. 

“What are you…” she began, but he just took her hand. “I’m in a towel.” 

He smiled at her, pulling her rubber duck pants out of the drawer, and she just smiled sadly at him. 

“They don’t fit,” she whispered. 

“They’re elastic,” he responded, “Come on. Just...try.” 

She sighed, slipping them on over a pair of knickers she grabbed from the top drawer, and he watched her put on one of his undershirts, her belly completely covered but looking round and beautiful all the same, and she nibbled on her lip. 

“Why you are wearing that?” she whispered. He smiled at her. 

“Just come on,” he said, taking her hand, and he led her to the console room, where the rosebud nebula sat before them through the open door. “There’s a special shooting star that flies through this tonight. Happens once every million years.”

She just looked at him, and he pulled her with him gently, helping her sit on the edge of the ship so her feet dangled over the edge. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and breathed her in as she leaned against his side, looking at the brilliant swirl of pink and yellow. 

And maybe a little gold. 

She saw what he was talking about a few minutes later. Starting in the middle of the nebula, a light began to spin and twist along the perimeter of the spirals, picking up specks of color with it as it did. 

It looked like fireworks. 

The star weaved and bounced along the edge of it all, burning brightly, and it felt, for a moment, like it might go on forever. It was glorious and beautiful, and she just followed it with her eyes, trying not to cry again.

And as she watched the light, he watched her. 

“We’re all stardust in the end, Rose,” he whispered. “Some of us burn longer, but...we’re all just dust.” 

She rubbed her lips together, taking a deep breath. She didn’t say anything, and he continued. 

“Everything. Just...atoms. Cells. And when we go, whether we’ve lived five years or five hundred billion….we just…” he said, breaking off. “He’s happy, Rose. I promise you. I can… From experience I can tell you, that, well….” 

She felt her throat tighten but she kept it together, pulling away to look at him. 

“Is that why you’re wearing that?” she asked. He shrugged. 

“I just wanted you to feel like...I dunno. I wanted to remind you that I’m still right here,” he said. “In case, for some reason….” 

She just stared at him, and he eventually let his eyes meet hers, where hazel galaxies as bright as the nebula before them swam in chocolate. 

“I know you are,” she whispered. “You always will be.” 

His eyes danced with hers as the shooting star fell away, and they both turned their attention to it, catching the last whispering tail of light as it disappeared into the abyss of space. He placed his hand on her thigh, the view still illuminating and shimmering, and she kissed his shoulder. 

“It’s just…” she said. “I never thought he’d be the first to go.” 

The Doctor gave her a small sad smile, and he just shook her head. “He isn't. He was very much the last.” 

“Timey-Wimey,” she said. 

“Indeed,” he murmured. “We can’t tell him.” 

“I know,” she said, leaning her head back on his shoulder. “He’ll just have to accept a bone crushing hug without questions.” 

“Jack?” the Doctor asked. “Won’t be a problem, I’m sure.” 

“I meant from you,” she teased, and he felt a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding fall out of him when he saw her smile. 

“If he buys me a drink first,” he joked back with a wink, and she just rolled her eyes. “Are you alright?” 

“I s'pose,” she said. “Are you?” 

He didn’t say anything, and she ended up shifting so she could look at him. “Fine. Just thinking.” 

“I love thinking,” she said, and the bookend of their day was almost jarring. He sighed. 

“We’re not going to solve this before she’s born. Not if she’s part of it,” he murmured. “That terrifies me.” 

“Me too,” she admitted. “She’s strong, though. And she’ll have us. I’m focusing on that.” 

“Yeah?” he asked. 

“Yes,” she said. “Remember the last time we looked at this thing?” 

He smiled. “You mean all the hot, sweaty sex on the grating?” 

“Oh, of course,” she said, leaning her chin on his shoulder. “But, I was also thinking about how we closed the parallel universe that day.” He turned and looked at her, and she brushed his hair back. “We couldn’t plan for that. We just….reacted to what we saw. Didn’t let our fears guide us.”

“Been a while since I heard those words,” he whispered. 

“I think we both need them, a bit,” she said, letting out a deep breath. “We’re going to be okay.” 

He nodded, kissing her, letting his hand find the back of her head and tangle in her hair. She deepened the kiss, shuddering a little as he accidentally scratched her hips, and he moaned. 

“Rose…” he panted, and she pulled away, looking at him carefully. 

“Me too,” she said. 

“You’ll cramp, probably,” he warned, but she just pulled his leather jacket toward her. 

She knew she didn’t have to explain how she was feeling to him, but there was sadness and a strange sort of hope pulsing in her, and all she could think about at the moment was how death can sneak up when you least expect it. And the need to _live,_ to savor the time they had together, to come apart like that shooting star they just watched, began to burn as bright as the vortex in her mind, and she just needed him. 

“Just...make love to me, yeah?” she asked desperately, and he stopped arguing, catching her lips in a long kiss. 

The TARDIS, looking out for them, jerked herself back a little so they fell out of the doorframe, and he groaned when his head hit the edge of the railing. Rose laughed a little, moving to kiss him again, and he pulled her up, turning her so he could wrap his arms around her. 

“Bedroom,” he whispered, and she nodded. 

Their clothes trailed them, mostly scattered across the floor of the hallway before they made it to the bed, and Rose pressed him against the mattress. She found it easier to be in control these days, and he watched her as she began to rock and grind on top of him, reminding him of how very alive they were. 

Minds, bodies, and souls connected, he found it impossible not to move with her. Both of their mouths fell open in ecstasy once he did, and he hissed her name in Gallifreyan, kissing her wrist as she moved to interlock their fingers on the pillow, supporting herself and using him as leverage, and she had to remind herself to open her eyes. 

She needed to look at him. Count each freckle on his face. Watch the way he hummed her name or let out a jagged breath to stifle a cry. She needed to feel the way she made his heartbeat increase, listen to every pant and grunt. She needed him. 

She always needed him. 

He cursed and groaned, never looking away from her, and whatever problems the universe might be facing fell away entirely. She kissed him, increasing her pace as it chased after a sweet release, and he pulled his hands out of hers to catch her in a warm embrace just as she did. He went with her. 

For a moment, all was calm. 

“I love you,” he said, kissing her again. “So much.” 

“I love you, too,” she whispered. “So so much.” 

He smiled at her, and she adjusted so she was lying next to him, both not worrying about moving or cleaning up just yet. 

She focused on her breathing when the cramping began. 

“Here, sit up,” the Doctor sighed, and he helped her so she could rest her back against the wall. “You alright?” 

She nodded, taking deep breaths, forgetting about blocks, and he could sense it all in his head. He gave her space, aware hovering might make it worse, and she eventually opened her eyes, all of it subsiding for now. 

“I’m s-” he said, but he stopped himself. “Guess I owe you fifteen quid.”

“Bets off,” she said. “It was stupid.” 

He laughed a little, and they looked at each other for a moment, before she leaned in and kissed him and laid back down on the bed. “You wanna change?” 

“No,” she said, “Too tired.” 

He smiled at her, rubbing his hand on her cheek, and he kissed her forehead. “You might get cold.” 

“I have a husband who makes his body temperature warmer if he needs to,” she whispered, and he bit his cheek. 

“I have a wife who rolls away from me if I don’t get it exactly right,” he teased. 

“Get it right then,” she said, flashing him a tiny version of his favorite smile, and he felt his hearts swell. “Maybe I should change.”

“Maybe,” he said lovingly, kissing her again, and it wasn’t long before they had both freshened up and were lying down, and he was writing ‘forever’ in Gallifreyan on her hips. 

She asked him to tell her and Alice a bedtime story, just wanting to hear his voice, and he asked her if she wanted one with Jack. She said yes. 

And so he did. 

She fell asleep halfway through, and he closed his eyes, finding his thoughts hard to turn off. 

He was only able to when Alice woke up, taking his mind swimming with her, probably not even realizing she was doing it. 

And meanwhile, somewhere back on Earth in 2010, a man in a wolf’s hood looked around at five other figures. 

“Welcome, secrets,” he said. “We have work to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading everyone! I know this series is going to be longer than my first. I wasn't planning on that at all, and if you're still reading after all these words and all these adventures, from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU. 
> 
> I also know the length of the most of the stories in this series are longer my first. I'm sorry. I am trying my best to keep them as short as possible so they're digestible, but the plot is large and I feel like I just know the version the Doctor & Rose in this universe so personally by now... I just have so much to say. 
> 
> I really hope they aren't too long or deterring, and I do promise all will be revealed! Thank you again!


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